The Medicare and Medicaid Health IT provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 promote the adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHRs). The Recovery Act authorized incentive payments for eligible professionals (EPS) and hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid for becoming meaningful users of certified EHRs. The law established maximum annual incentive amounts and includes Medicare penalties for failing to meaningfully use EHRs beginning in 2015 for professionals and hospitals that fail to adopt certified EHRs.
